drones to a green fleet, i expect similar policies to continue for my former colleaguechuckhageltobe confirmed, hopefully as early as next week. for all these reasons i have long been a supporter of renewable fuels, and i encourage the further development of an industry that is important, both to our national security as well as to our farm economy. whether we're talking food or water or energy security, let me put it this way. in the future, more crops in the field can mean fewer soldiers in the field. at the same time, as important as our defense capabilities are, we also need to rebalance for the other free d's. the u.s. today spends more on defense than on diplomacy, democracy and developments all put together. meanwhile, in the past year, china has more than doubled its investment in developing new agricultural technologies. those are the kinds of farsighted policies that are enabling china to emerge as a world power, in which we, frankly, need to get back to. as we shift our focus and our resources towards smarter, more constructive forms of international interaction, it'

-level officers and enlisted that are so important to the leadership of our military andchuckhagel's leadershipand commitment will be critical to that task. i have met with chuck hagel privately, i've asked him tough questions about iran and israel. i'm satisfied on those points that he will advise the president in according to with -- in accord with those policies but even more important i am struck by his passion, the intensity of his commitment to our men and women in uniform. his caring about them is indicated in so many ways. spontaneously and strongly in his testimony, as well as his private conversations. he will make sure that sexual assault in the military, the epidemic and scourge of rape and assault against men and women who serve and sacrifice for this country will be stopped, that there will be, in fact, zero tolerance not only in word but in deed. and his viewing, for example, of the documentary "invisible war," his understanding that this kind of misconduct is an outrage never to be even implicitly condoned and to be treated as a criminal offense, the most extreme kind of predat

secretary nomineechuckhagel's explosiveand contentious senate hearing. what are the chances that he'll get confirmed. >>> the dow closing above 14,000 for the very first time in years. will it continue? that's the big question. >>> but up first some brand new developments this out of alabama. that's where a 5-year-old boy remains hostage in an underground bunker. at this hour authorities sent a special message to the man holding him there, jimmy lee dykes. the standoff began five days ago when police say dykes kidnapped the boy from his school bus after shooting the driver. jonathan serrie is live at the scene in midland city, alabama. what's the latest? >> reporter: no resolution as the hostage standoff goes into a fifth afternoon. however, authorities say they are in constant communication with 65-year-old jimmy lee dykes communicating through the pvc pipe that provides ventilation from the surface to his underground bunker. authorities say they have no reason to believe that any physical harm has come to the 5-year-old hostage. listen. >> mr. dykes, through our communications we'

, we saw in the confirmation hearings withchuckhagelthatcruise was by far the most prosecutorial, the most aggressive of the questioners of both of those folks, and he is someone who makes no bones about his -- both his ambition and his willingness to buck how the senate is supposed to work. we're going to hear more from him before we hear less. >> you know, the way the senate is supposed to work is that you don't ask a question about the friends of hamas until you check out whether there is even such an organization as the friends of hamas. just saying. margaret, could marco rubio and the foreign trip. he has credentials and has given foreign policy speeches. here he was with king abdullah. he was in israel and had a press conference there, met with netanyahu. he is really -- there he is with shimon peres. there is quite a lot of activity by marco rubio, even since the state of the union water episode. >> well, he has now checked his foreign policy box. you'll remember these are not always easy trips. mitt romney did not have a good trip -- when it took one during his campaign.

's talk aboutchuckhagel's confirmation.i'm sure you saw it. it was great television. a lot of fireworks between hagel and john mccain. take a look. >> we are correct or incorrect. yes or no? >> my reference to the refer -- >> the question is were you right or wrong. that's a pretty straight forward question. i would like to answer and then you are free to elaborate. >> i am not going to give you a yes or no answer. >> joe, first of all, let me ask you this. the white house didn't jump to his defense after that stuff. why not? >> who didn't? >> the white house. the white house didn't jump to his defense. >> the white house has a sense that he has a good chance to be confirmed and everybody know that is the hearings will be contentious. no doubt there will be a lot of consengz and a lot of bad blood between this senator and colleagues and many who question his stance with regard to iran and how strong he would be and also with regard to israel. expect contention. that doesn't mean he won't be confirmed. i don't think the white house will jump to his defense. >> again, white house didn't j

-span. >> coming up tonight, the senate approvedchuckhageltobe that next defense secretary. after that, republican leaders spoke of the upcoming budget cuts, known as a sequestration. president obama is in newport news, virginia and talks about the effects of sequestration would have on them middle-class. -- on the middle class. the senate voted to confirm senator chuck hagel as the next defense secretary. the final vote was 58-41 with four republicans joining 52 democrats and two independents in voting aye. next, the 25 minute debate on the senate floor. >> it is now time for us to vote up or down on the nomination for many reasons. the nomination has been before us now inadequate time to get the information which our colleagues have asked for. there is also the looming fact of sequestration. we need to have a secretary of defense who is not only in office, but whose leadership is not in limbo, but is there. our troops need it. their families needed. our country needs it. we have 66,000 military arsenal in harms way in afghanistan. the president of afghanistan has directed the united

of defense in the meeting of world leaders.chuckhagelwassupposed to be there and we'll let you know how the congressional haggling is playing out on the world stage. you're watching msnbc, the place for politics. [ female announcer ] total effects user kim scott still looks amazing. but with kids growing up fast, fighting seven signs of aging gets harder. introducing total effects moisturizer plus serum. for the ninety-two practices, two proms, and one driving test yet to come. she'll need our most concentrated total effects ever. a body at rest tends to stay at rest... while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain so your body can stay in motion. because just one 200mg celebrex a day can provide 24 hour relief for many with arthritis pain and inflammation. plus, in clinical studies, celebrex is proven to improve daily physical function so moving is easier. celebrex can be taken with or without food. and it's not a narco

on defense secretary nomineechuckhagel. whoa,it's been a long time coming. the chamber hoepdz to hold a final vote today or tomorrow. more on that vote just ahead. first, after the break, john kerry makes his maiden voyage as secretary of state. will he carry the majdz mantle of obama or clinton? we'll discuss kerry's world tour when p.j. crowley joins us next on "now." ♪ you know my heart burns for you... ♪ i'm up next, but now i'm singing the heartburn blues. hold on, prilosec isn't for fast relief. cue up alka-seltzer. it stops heartburn fast. ♪ oh what a relief it is! because every flake is double-toasted... splashed with sweet honey... and covered in rich double-roasted peanuts. mmm. [ hero ] yummy. [ male announcer ] kellogg's crunchy nut. it's super delicious! [ male announcer ] kellogg's crunchy nut. ♪ ♪ no two people have the same financial goals. pnc works with you to understand yours and help plan for your retirement. visit a branch or call now for your personal retirement review. sdmrirchlgt as the u.s. continues to -- john kerry embarked on his first overseas vo

against illegal guns joe cerencione will come in and talk about the latest in syria but canchuckhagelsurvivea less than stellar performance last week in front of the senate foreign relations committee and job numbers came out. thanks to richard fouling for filling in, in friday. i was in boston giving a speech to the massachusetts bankers' association. so job numbers came out, and former labor secretary, hilda solis still in town is going to come in and talk job numbers with us as well. a lot to cover, but first: >> this is the full court press. >> some other headlines making news, still another win for "argo" been affleck taking home top honor for director's guild for the iran hostage drama showing how big a snub he got for not getting nominated for an oscar of best director. the academy awards coming up in three weeks. >> bill: i am more and more convinced "argo" will win best picture? >> looking that way. sad news from the bush household. former president george w. bush's dog, barneyey passed away, the little black scottish tear year. 12 years ol

. and that is what we will be voting on now. later on, there will be a vote on whether to confirmsenatorhagel. thevote now is whether to bring this debate to an end. i hope we will so we can get on to the nomination vote. i yield the floor. i think it's noon and time for a vote. the presiding officer: the senator's time has expired. the senator from oklahoma has 30 seconds remaining. the senator from oklahoma. mr. inhofe: let me say that we -- everything has been said, not everyone has said it. however, i would like to make sure that everyone understands that the actual statements that were made by the former senator hagel in terms of the relationship of our country with israel and iran prior to the time that he was nominated, because many of those statements were changed at that time. i encourage the no vote on cloture. the presiding officer: the time is expired. under the previous order, the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture motion, we the undersigned senators in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate hereby move to br

a minute. tomorrow, the senate will be in doing a test vote onchuckhagel's nominationfor defense secretary. it is a culture wrote -- it is a cloture vote. of congressional hearings going on today. a couple of them are live on c- span 3 or [inaudible]. if you go there you will be able to see all of the hearings. thank you for being with us on the "washington journal." the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. the chair lays before the house a communication from the speaker. the clerk: the speaker's room, washington, d.c., february 14, 2013. i hereby appoint the honorable chris collins to act as speaker pro tempore on this day. signed, john a. boehner, speaker of the house of representatives. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the order of the house of january 3, 2013, the chair will now recognize members from lists submitted by the majority and minority leaders for morning hour debate. the chair will alternate recognition between the parties with each party limited to one hour and each member other than the majority and minority leaders and the minority whip limited t

could work this week on thechuckhagelnomination.the question remains whether or not republicans will block the nomination with a filibuster. the president traveling to push for slacker gun laws. with the nation focusing on the super bowl, we want to turn to washington's role on regulating the nfl. we will use super bowl sunday to talk about government regulations when it comes to the issue of steroids or head injuries. the phone lines are open. let's begin with a look at some of the headlines courtesy of the museum. from "the san francisco chronicle" -- from "the baltimore sun" -- let's turn to the politics and policy behind the nfl. this is a story a few days ago from "the washington post." outlining a plan and a letter to the executive director of the players union. they agreed as part of a 2011 collective bargaining agreement that the players should be tested for hgh, but the two sides of that agreed. two seasons have been played without it. last weekend in new orleans, roger goodell was asked a number of questions including one on the issue of head injuries. here is more fro

of the atlantic council, senatorchuckhagel, ourpresident and ceo fred kemp, it is our pleasure to welcome you this afternoon for this discussion on managing the crisis in mali. before introducing today's topic, permit me to say a word about the councils africa center for the benefit of the audience, those who are new to us were joining us for the first time via television or the internet. the africa center was established in september, 2009, with a mission to help transform u.s. and other healthy approaches to africa by emphasizing the building of strong geopolitical partnerships with african states and strengthening economic growth and prosperity on the continent. the center seeks to engage and inform with policymakers in the general public of the strategic importance of effort that. both globally and for american and european interest in particular. a subject which obviously -- a commitment you share by joining us today. of strategic importance. we do this for -- a robust media presence. we worked promote constructive us leadership and engagement in international affairs is done the central

risks for peace making. >> a want ask aboutchuckhagel. duringhis confirmation hearing,chuckhagelsaidthis about iran. >> i support the president's strong position on containment, as i said. by the way, i have been handed a note that i misspoke and said i supported the president's position on containment. if i said that, i meant to say we don't have a position on containment. >> this got a lot of the tensions and chuck hagel was stumbling all over the place during his hearing. talk about the significance of the substance of what he said. >> because the debate and the conversation in washington has been hysterical, there has been the effort to eliminate options at a very early stage. this a strong effort to make the containment option, essentially a dirty word in washington, d.c. equating content with the acceptance of iran getting a nuclear weapon. signaling the u.s. at the end of the day will not try to prevent a nuclear weapon in iran, but try to find ways to live with it. while the obama administration's policy is not containment, i think it is important to point out that we s

disturbed by it. it cameduringhagelhearingsand was politically calibrated to get the support of the u.s. senate. what can a president say? he is not going to denounce israel now? i am very suspicious of the motives of the attack. >> israel maintained the lorries they were attacking carried game changing weapons. does that make it all right? is anyone likely to criticize israel for taking this position? >> there is a lot of criticism from the middle east, and that can be expected. we have only israel's word to go on. i have seen no independent evidence to confirm what they claimed. i am sure from their perspective these surface air missiles they said they were interdicting might be a game changer, but they are only a game changer if israel is planning an attack on has the law or lebanon or further attacks on syria. -- on hezbollah or lebanon or further attacks on syria. >> he does not want another front, does he? >> i am not sure he has enough to strike back with. certainly under international law he would be in his legitimate rights to strike back. i do not think of is going to happen

chuckhagel, ismakes his first remarks to the pentagon employees. >> the great nation and the tremendous force for food that america is. i want toking a knowledge much -- i want to acknowledge much of our leadership here today, specifically, we have the deputy secretary of defense ash carter who was here chairman, joint chiefs, we have the staff of the army. makes me shake a little. sergeant -- [laughter] >> these are live pictures. chuck hagel speaking live at the pentagon. first remarks to the employees there. now we also want to show you some new video of hagel arriving at the pentagon this morning. hagel was confirmed by the senate just yesterday after a bitter seven-week fight on capitol hill. just four republicans joined republicans in backing the -- the democrats in backing the confirmation. president obama calls hagel the defense secretary the nation needs and the leader our troops deserve. >>> what's moving. markets higher this morning? new disturbing information on the alleged gunman in the santa cruz shooting. >>> first it was the island of lanai and now lar

president obama withdraw the nomination ofchuckhageltobe the next defense secretary. 15 republican senators signed a letter arguing it would be, quote, unprecedented, unprecedented for a secretary of defense to take office without a broad base of bipartisan support. let's bring in dana bash. she's working this story for us. the critics of chuck hagel, and there are many, they are not giving up? >> they are not. and that's really what this is about. this is about hagel's harshest critics to say that they are not happy. it's a big deal. they are saying, mr. president, please withdraw it. if you look at these faces, they are the most conservative members of the senate so it isn't surprising that they would be this aggressive on what has really become a partisan issue and they know what that what has happened in this recess -- the senate is in recession -- is that some of their fellow republicans have come out and said, we will allow this to go forward. so they know it's not technically going to be possible for them to stop it but the votes, they thought maybe if there was a bombshell

aboutchuckhagelbecausewe expect a vote tomorrow now even very closetohagelandasking for him to be confirmed. they suggested last week the white house that he did have the votes with richard shelby, a republican saying that he has endorsed him, that he at least stops the filibuster and gets a final confirmation sometime this week. >> we now have about 66 votes. not all of them declared to basically call on cloture, and they have well over the number of needed of majority votes, including richard shelby, potentially lisa murkowski, but she hasn't declared where she is on hagel per se. this looks like it will go forward. we're all expecting this vote to take place tomorrow afternoon. probably get e yet again during your show, andrea. if ted cruise and jim inhoff want to drag this out to the furthest possible end, they could call 30 more hours of debate and the vote could take place on wednesday. >> chris, now we have the sequester. only four days away. no sign of progress. the governor's role there, very strong republican governors, you some real rising political republican sta

, the senate proceed to executive session to consider the nomination ofsenatorhageltobe secretary of defense under the previous order. further, that following the cloture vote on the hagel nomination, upon reconsideration the senate recess until 2:15 for the weekly caucus meetings. and finally, that if cloture is invoked, the time during recess, morning business and adjournment count postcloture on the hagel nomination. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. blumenthal: there will be reconsideration of the cloture vote on the hagel nomination at noon tomorrow. if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it adjourn under the previous order. the presiding officer: the senate stands adjourned. senate stands adjourned. >> johnette sandstrom waits for roll call. congress has been away for presidents' day and a sikh a sikh is the issue of sequestration. what's ahead for lawmakers on that topic? >> this has been a lot about publicity and not about legislation so far. the cuts are supposed to go into effect on march 1st and we have no progress on any negot

's blocking of further consideration of the nomination ofchuckhageltobe the next secretary of defense. we'll be back here in chicago as soon as the president arrives. >> good morning, thanks for talking with us. >> how unusual is it to have the president's pick blocked at this stage of the game? guest: it is very unusual. the senator has never filibustered the president's nomination for the defense secretary. the most bizarre thing, i think, is probably the most frustrating for the people watching this, particularly outside of washington, is that you know, former senator hagel is former republican senator, mind you. the reason why it was defeated because the majority leader harry reid switched his vote to no so he could bring the vote back up again after the senate comes back from recease. a lot of republican senators were saying that they did not want this choice filibustered. even if they wanted to vote no on his nomination he at least deserves an up down vote in order to be approved. the republicans decided to use this vote as a way to extract more information from the white house on i

. if you talk tomikehagelhe'llsay this is a problem for us. he can go to china and say stop your spying. we do it too. we don target economic entities. we don't target corporations and not stealing the economic research of dupont or intel. we do what they consider traditional spying. the chinese don't and that's a distinction we make. whether china sees it that way or not is an entirely different question. >> rose: how do they know we make that distinction. >> i think there are set of laws under which nsa operates and those laws make it relatively clear the kinds of targets that you have. but if you think about it, we also don't have the system. if we were to take for example some secrets of you know a new jet liner that airbus is making. we typically don't have a system that works that way. we don't pick winners and loser. >> in enact the government knows a lot of stuff they don't tell companies. if they could communicated better with companies about who is hacking them that would go a long time. >> rose: sometimes the companies don't know. >> yes, of course. that's part of the presi

with the experience, judgment, and vision our troops deserve,chuckhagel. andsince we are now just weeks away from the automatic cuts to federal spending, including defense, let me say this -- there is no reason, no reason for that to happen, putting our fiscal house in order calls for a balanced approach, not massive indiscriminate cuts that could have a severe impact on our military preparedness. so here today, for the sake of our prosperity, for the sake of all these men and women in uniform, and all their brothers and sisters in uniform that they represent, now is the time to act, for democrats and republicans to come together in the same spirit that leon panetta always brought to public service -- solving problems, not trying to score points, doing right for the country, not for any particular political agenda, sustaining our economic recovery, balancing budgets. leon knows something about it, but also maintaining the finest military in history. leon, this too will be part of your legacy, for no one has raised their voice as firmly or as forcefully on behalf of our troops as you have. you hav

your experience in research, what do you think of the reaction againstchuckhagel's beingsecretary of defense, a man whose clearly reluctant to send soldiers into harm's way having been there himself. >> the question was about the former senator chuck hagel, a man with two purple hearts, shrapnel in his test, and all the controversy over him. without weighing in on him per se. i like the idea of people who served in uniform having a say in policy decisions in which men in uniform and women in uniform are sent into harm's way, as a general thought. i don't have a position on whether he should be secretary of defense. i do think it's interesting, and the last three or four weeks i've wished my show was up and running so we could talk about this at some length, but i think it's interesting, john kerry, chuck hagel, two men with, i think, five purple hearts between them, and both of them, although, they votedded for iraq and afghanistan, can't say they are completely doves, although, maybe john kerry didn't vote for iraq. i can't keep it straight, but in any case, what it does, and we

to the same committee room that we will take you to now. we went there to hear defense nomineechuckhagel's testimony.they will come in soon. a little bit later, at 2:30 p.m. in the senate intelligence committee, john brennan's confirmation will be life. you see senator mccain. you have the ranking for the senate armed service committee. this should begin in a second. let us watch. we will cavill and to hear from defense secretary leon panetta and general martin dempsey about the attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi that resulted in the death of four americans. one week ago today, this committee heard from senator chuck hegel -- hagel to be the next defense secretary. the center of south carolina said he would put a hold on former senator hagel's nomination unless leon panetta agreed to testify. this is the first of two harris we will show you today. this and later this afternoon, the confirmation hearing for cia director nominee, john brennan, currently the counter-terrorism chief. >> good morning, everybody. we welcome secretary of defense leon panetta and the chairman of the joint

. at 8:00 eastern here on c-span, newly confirmed defense secretarychuckhageladdressesemployees at the pentagon. on c-span 2, president obama and congressional leaders dedicate a statue to civil right it's activist rosa parks inside the u.s. capitol. and on c-span 3, a house hearing from today looking at the impact of friday's automatic spending cuts on the federal aviation administration. it's all tonight on the c-span networks starting at 8:00 eastern. president barack obama meets on friday with the top leaders in the house and senate to talk about the $85 billion in automatic spending cuts called the sequester that go into effect friday. also at that white house meeting, house speaker john boehner, senate democratic leader harry reid, senate republican leader mitch mcconnell and house democratic leader nancy pelosi. the sequester led the white house briefing today. education secretary arne duncan was there and warned of the impact of the upcoming automatic spending cuts to education programs. >> come on. good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. good morning, still. thank you for

on american history tv on c-span3. >> and now former senatorchuckhagelexpresseshis thoughts on the war in iraq and says that more should have been done leading up to the war to determine whether it was the right action to take. he also examines america's position in the world and its future from an economic and environmental perspective. this is just over an hour. >> honored to have an opportunity to be with you and in this house and your guests and those who believe in a better world and how to make a better world because as i look around this room, i see so many people who have devoted their careers and their lives to making a better world. and to all of you, thank you. we, all of us in the global community, appreciate it. and most of you are cometting to make those -- continuing to make those same kinds of contributions. nice to see you again, thank you very much, and to some of our current ambassadors who

. >>>chuckhagelmaybe confirmed today as secretary of defense, but his predecessor, leon panetta, will not be on capitol hill for the vote. anxious to retire, panetta will watch hagel's proceedings on tv from the comfort of his own home in california. >>> the senate finance committee is expected to approve the nomination of jack lew as secretary of the treasury. a confirmation vote from the full senate expected tomorrow. he replaces timothy geithner. >>> the nation's most famous surgeon general has passed away. c. everett koop was appointed by president reagan in 1981 and instrumental in changing america's views on smoking, trying to get the country to kick the habit by the year 2000. he also endorsed condoms and sex education in an effort to stop the spread of aids. he died at his home in new hampshire. dr. koop was 96 years old. >>> pope benedict has just days left as the leader of the roman catholic church and their scandal as a transition begins towards a new pope. abc's david wright reports from the vatican. >> reporter: britain's cardinal keith o'brian will not attend the c

.senatorhagel. latertoday i'm going to be talking to john brennan. can you give a brief assessment of the two gentle and the capability and the readiness to assume the positions? >> yes, certainly. obviously that's something that the committees now have the opportunity evaluate. but in my view, both of them are outstanding individuals that have a great deal of experience and capability to be able to perform in an outstanding fashion in each of their jobs. senator hagel is someone who, you know, served in the military, worked up here on the hill. understand the issues that are involve there had. i think can be a very effective leader at the pentagon. john brennan is somebody i worked with the at the director of cia and continued to work with in this capacity. i found him to be responsible about how we can effectively conduct operations again al qaeda and against those that would attack this country. he is -- as somebody said, a straight shooter. somebody who, you know, gives you his best opinion, he doesn't play games. he is somebody who i think, you know, can honestly represent the

sequestration. secretary panetta will retire pending the confirmation of defense secretary nomineechuckhagel. [laughter]>> you are on your own, kid. >> good afternoon. as you know, this is i believe my final press conference here at the pentagon briefing room. there are moments when i thought i was part of the last act of an italian opera and i'm not sure exactly when it would end. i think that the congress will act, and that they will confirm chuck hagel this week. what i wanted to do was come down and use this opportunity to first of all thank you all, all of you that are part of the press corps here and the press in general. throughout my 50 years in public service, i have always believed, believed very deeply in the role of the press. because i believe deeply in the role of the american people in our democracy, information is a key to an informed electorate. and while we may or may not agree with every story, in the grand scheme of things, because of the work of the press, i believe the truth always comes out and in and, we cannot really serve the american people well ms we deal with th

professor that the president has nominated to serve as the next secretary of defense,chuckhagel, andi am confident and i've expressed that confidence publicly that the men and women of the department of defense will have the kind of advocate they need as the nation emerges from more than a decade of war. lastly, i'm honored to be here, as i said, as a catholic and as a proud graduate of another jesuit institution, santa clara university. my time in the university's undergraduate and law school, in many ways shaped the rest of my life as this education will shape the rest of your lives. i remain dopely thankful to the jesuits for the outstanding education that i received. having gone through seven years of philosophy and sill gisms and theology and cannon law, i have been blessed by all the grace and skepticism that jesuits can give. more importantly, i've been shaped by what i believe is their pragmatic approach to life and to faith and to the issues in general. it was that education and my catholic upbringing, particularly as the son of italian immigrants, that instilled in me the very

council, senatorchuckhagel, presidentand ceo fred kemp, it's my pleasure to welcome you here this afternoon for this discussion on managing the crisis in mali. before introducing today's topic, permit me to say a word about the council's africa center for the benefit of the add yoans, those who are new to us, or those of us joining us for the first time via television or the internet. the africa center was established in september 2009 with the mission to help transform u.s. and european policy approaches to africa by emphasizing the building of strong geopolitical partnerships with african states and strengthening economic growth and prosperity on the continent. they seek to inform with policymakers and the general public of the strategic importance of africa, both globally and more american and european interests in particular. a subject, which, obviously, a commitment you share with us by joining us today which is of strategic importance. we do this through publications and a robot media presence. throughout the work to promote constructive u.s. leadership and engagement i

. debate resuming on the nomination of former nebraska senatorchuckhageltobe defense secretary. the house and senate returning next monday, february 25. [applause] >> good morning. i am teresa sullivan, president of the university of virginia. a warm welcome to senator tim kaine, representative robert third period our guest from the state department as well as members of the university board of visitors and our students, faculty, and staff. it seems entirely appropriate that america opposing the secretary of states has chosen to deliver his first major address here in the commonwealth of virginia. the roots of national leadership run deep in virginia. this is the birthplace of eight american presidents, including thomas derickson, who founded the university based on his belief that learning is the surest path to a national stability and human liberty. -- thomas jefferson. this morning we are gathered just a few hundred yards from the spot where three american presidents, mr. jefferson, james madison, and james monroe, gathered in 1917 to lay the cornerstone for the first univer

hageliswho served in the military and worked up here on the hill and understands the issues involved there and can be a very effective leader at the pentagon. john brennan is somebody i worked with as director of the c.i.a. and continue to work with in this capacity. and i always found him to be very responsible about how we can effectively conduct operations against al qaeda and against those that would attack this country. he is somebody a straight shooter, somebody who gives you his best opinion. he doesn't play games. he's someone who i think can really honestly represent the best protection of this country in that job. >> thank you very much. and i want to thank you for your forth right comments today about the sequester. ironically as what you said in your statement, it appears the greatest threat to the united states security is the united states congress. thank you, mr. secretary. >> thank you. let me mention this, after senator nelson, the first round will be over. there may be a number of us who may want a few minutes on the second round and you two witnesses have been here

quick questions. thank you for your service and leadership. one, do you support or opposechuckhagelassecretary of defense? to, what is your violation of thomas ricks criticism of american generals since world war ii except for you and general petraeus? [laughter] >> altaic the second verse. it's painful to read about generals being criticized because a lot of it's correct. you see it and say that's me, i'm guilty of that. we had shortcomings of not being strategically enough minded. you know, you get focused on your job, your tactical part of the mission and not digging the big strategic problem you're trying to solve. one is not firing enough people. we don't fire and not generals. .. you know, from the senate, his time in vietnam is useful because it gives you a context. the most important thing is if he and president obama are a good team, that is what matters. though much worry about his policy positions one way or another because he will be a policy maker. the president's policies will go but the fact that the field that they can be a good team, to me that is the important th

hagel. andsince we are now just weeks away from the automatic cuts to federal spending, including defense, let me say this -- there is no reason, no reason for that to happen, putting our fiscal house in order calls for a balanced approach, not massive indiscriminate cuts that could have a severe impact on our military preparedness. so here today for the sake of our prosperity, for the sake of all these men and women in uniform, and all their brothers and sisters in uniform that they represent, now is the time to act, for democrats and republicans to come together in the same spirit that leon panetta always brought to public service, solving problems, not trying to score points, doing right for the country, not for any particular political agenda. sustaining our economic recovery, balancing budgets, leon knows something about it, but also maintaining the finest military in history. leon, this too will be part of your legacy, for no one has raised their voices firmly or as forcefully on behalf of our trips as you have. you have served with integrity and decency, and grace. you are

Search Results 0 to 48 of about 49 (some duplicates have been removed)